The present invention relates to a device for automatically rolling up media sheets and, more particularly, to an apparatus incorporated into a document reproduction machine which automatically rolls up the original document or copy sheets into tubular form.
There are a number of prior art applications wherein the configuration of a flat article, following a manufacturing or production step, is required to be transformed into a tubular form for convenient removal from a work station. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,002,308 and 4,102,512 disclose a roll-up mechanism comprising four rollers which define a center aperture in which cut carpet sections of various lengths are rolled up. U.S. Pat. No. 2,849,191 discloses an apparatus for winding paper material into rolls. The apparatus includes two input rollers and two roll-up stations where the sheets are rolled within a central aperture formed between rolled sets. Upon completing the roll-up operation, the paper rolls automatically fall into a container. U.S. Pat. No. 3,052,073 shows a cluster of rollers which form a space therebetween in which sheets are wound. As the rolled sheet diameter expands, bottom rollers are moved away to allow rolled sheets to be removed.
Document reproduction machines capable of copying up to 36" long engineering drawings are known in the art; the Xerox 2510 copier being one example. The 2510 copier operator inserts a copy sheet into a registration position and then introduces an original to be copied into a continuous velocity transport device. The original document, as it emerges from the exposure zone, must be manually retrieved. The output copy may either be retrieved manually, allowed to fall onto a support table or the like. The output copy may also be automatically rolled up for subsequent removal as disclosed in copending application Ser. No. 075,509 filed on July 20, 1987 and assigned to the same assignee as the present invention. This roll-up device incorporates a roll-up assembly comprising a curved baffle arrangement with drive rollers positioned along the circumference. The output copy is moved along a spiral path on the interior surface of the rollup assembly. Upon completion of the roll-up operation, the assembly is pivotally opened and the rolled-up output copy removed.
With the prior art arrangements described above, it is necessary for an operator to manually remove each original as it exits the exposure zone and to remove each copy from the copy exit station or the roll-up assembly, as the case may be. These operations and functions reduce throughput since the time taken to handle originals and copies from the output stations subtracts from the time the operator can be feeding originals into the exposure station. It would therefore be desirable to have an original and a copy output station capable of automatically rolling up one or more original documents, or copies, during a copy operation and storing them in tubular configuration until later removal by an operator. The present invention is therefore directed to an apparatus for automatically rolling up one or more media sheets into a tublar configuration, the apparatus including:
means for accepting said media sheets from a copy input station and for feeding said sheets into a roll-up assembly, the roll-up assembly including;
at least one cylindrical guide member enclosing an interior roll-up space, the guide member at least partially flexible along its circumference.
whereby the media sheets are fed into said guide member and are scrolled within the interior space, the guide member flexing radially outward to accomodate the rolling up of a plurality of media sheets.